Chapter 7
Envy sighed in relief when she saw her front door come into view. It’d been a long night and she couldn’t wait to crawl into bed. She fished out her key, which thankfully hadn’t been lost at the club. Another thing she was extremely thankful for was Kriss not asking any questions. She had a feeling he knew something was wrong but didn’t want to pry.
When he asked how she and Trevor were doing, she’d given him the one-word answer of ‘Fine’ and left it at that.
Kriss pulled to a stop in front of her place and put the car in park. “Here we are milady, home sweet home.”
Envy grinned, “Such a gentleman,” she said then sighed, “Why do you have to be gay?”
Kriss chuckled, “Tabatha asks me that at least twice a week and I tell her the same thing I’m about to tell you.”
“And that would be?” Envy asked, really wanting to know the answer.
“I don’t know,” Kriss shrugged, like even he was totally lost on the subject.
Envy laughed and slapped him playfully on the arm, “You’re impossible.”
“That’s why the ladies love me,” Kriss bragged. “I am their confidant, their best friend, and their ride home if they find themselves stranded at a club and don’t want to spend the money for a cab.” He stopped and thought for a moment. “That would be a great business venture… what do you think?”
“I think you need your head examined,” Envy answered.
“Which one?” Kriss cocked an eyebrow playfully.
Envy's jaw fell open for a moment then she snapped it shut. “You are so bad,” she shook her head at him. “Tell Tabatha I’ll call her later.”
Kriss glanced toward her front door seeing Trevor there, wagging his tail at them. It was hard to keep his lips from twitching. He’d already figured out that she and Trevor were no longer together or Envy wouldn’t smell like a jaguar right now. Poor Trevor; he’d actually liked the shifter.
Envy gave him a quick hug and got out of the car. She waited until the taillights from Kriss's car turned the corner at the end of the street before heading toward the house. As she approached, the motion detector Chad had set up made the outside light come on and Envy jumped when she saw a full-grown golden retriever sitting by her front door.
“Well aren’t you a pretty boy,” Envy cooed, stooping down to ruffle the fur around the dog’s neck. “No collar,” she whispered a little sadly then giggled when it started licking her face. “And so friendly too. Are you hungry?”
The dog barked and sat up on his hind legs with both front paws in the air. He stared up at her imploringly.
Envy planted her fists on her hips. “Are you looking to get on my good side? If you are, it’s working,” she admitted.
Trevor stood beside Envy as she unlocked the door. He’d been born a shifter and could take on any form he wished. It was one of the main reasons he was one of the top brass with PIT, the Paranormal Investigation Team. His type of shifter was very rare. There were only about a dozen of them left in the entire world.
He could hold his own against any other kind of shifter, plus change so completely that even his scent changed with him. When he shifted, it was like stepping from one form into another and even he didn’t know exactly why or how.
Most paranormal beings had forgotten his kind even existed, and the ones that did remember were so powerful that they simply didn’t care. Luckily, most couldn’t tell he was anything but a normal human or whatever animal he chose to be for the moment.
He pushed himself against Envy’s legs and looked up at her with his tail wagging when she glanced down at him. He’d known better than to show up at her house in his human form… he wouldn’t have made it through the door. Plus, he was tired of getting tasered. If he’d been human, that would have really pissed him off and it was hard to act like it hurt for longer than she had her finger on the button.
“You really must be hungry.” Envy said. “Maybe Chad will let me keep you. But I’ll warn you, I’ll spoil you so much that you’ll want to stay.”
Trevor barked again and wagged his tail faster, but he could smell jaguar all over her and it was seriously pissing him off. Was she really mad enough at him to mean what she’d said in the parking lot? He knew she wasn’t the type of girl to just sleep around, so why in the hell did she smell like Devon Santos?
Envy finally got the door open and he bounded into the house ahead of her, sniffing every corner of the house before deciding it was safe. Knowing the way to the food, he trotted into the kitchen.
Envy smiled and shut the door. Going to Chad’s bedroom, she opened his door and peeked in. The bed was still made, which told her he hadn’t even been home yet. Heading into the kitchen, she smiled again at the golden retriever sitting in the center of the kitchen floor as if waiting on her to keep her promise.
“Just make yourself at home!” she exclaimed with a laugh. When the dog barked again, she went to the fridge and found some hotdogs. She took those out and opened the package. Chopping them into pieces, she placed them in a bowl and put it on the floor.
“There you go,” Envy said softly and squatted down with her arms crossed over her knees to watch him eat. “You sure are a pretty boy.” Standing up, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the Taser, putting it on the counter for Chad to find later. The dog looked up at her and whined, backing away from her and the weapon.
Envy watched him with an odd feeling of guilt. The poor dog acted like he knew exactly what a taser was and she wondered if someone had tasered him in the past. Wanting to put his mind at ease, she smiled softly and patted his head. “Oh don’t worry. This is only for bad boyfriends, not sweet doggies.”
Trevor inwardly sighed then finished the hotdogs and licked his chops. They might have been cold but they’d tasted great. He could’ve used a couple more packs of those. Shifting always made him hungry, but then Trevor was always hungry.
His father had once told him that because of all the strength they carried in their bodies, they needed to eat a lot. He’d later found that was true. No matter what form he chose to be in, he was always a lot stronger than that animal… even when in human form. It had taken years of training and anger management to learn how to not use his strength around humans.
Going into the living room, he sat down on the floor to watch Envy take off her boots. She groaned as they slid off and massaged her feet for a few minutes before getting up and heading into her bedroom.
Trevor couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she took off her shirt and tossed it halfheartedly toward the hamper as she went. The skirt came next, but she let that slide off and Trevor almost growled when he saw her underwear fall out of the pocket. They were ripped in half!
When she walked into the bathroom, Trevor followed and sat in the open doorway. He looked for any signs that she’d had trouble tonight but couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t help but whine softly when she bent over to turn on the water in the shower. Damn she had one hell of an ass! He wondered what she would do if he shifted right then and joined her in the shower.
His eyes remained riveted to her body as she stepped into the shower and started to wet her hair. She hummed softly when she started washing her hair and Trevor knew then that he’d have to leave or he’d give himself away. Now that he knew she’d made it home safely, he needed to go home himself and get some sleep so he would be wide awake tonight. The long trek he’d taken this morning had completely worn him out.
Turning away from the bathroom, he started through the house but stopped when he realized he couldn’t go home yet. He’d have to shift again before he got there which would leave him completely naked… the main downfall of shifting in public places. Going into Chad’s bedroom, he found a pair of pants hanging low enough in the open closet so he yanked them down with his teeth.
He was about to leave the room when he remembered why Envy had broken up with him. Jason had called to tell her he was cheating and Chad hadn’t bothered to defend him. He growled low enough to where Envy wouldn’t hear him over the shower. He wouldn’t forget that it was Chad’s taser he’d felt twice in the same night. The cop had this coming.
Dropping the pants on the floor, he jumped up on Chad’s bed and eyed the big fluffy pillows. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer and attacked them. He snatched one up in his teeth and holding it down with his front paws, he started tearing it apart. Whipping his head from side to side, he made sure feathers flew everywhere and that there was no stuffing left inside it.
The second pillow was unable to escape the carnage and ended up in the same state. Looking around the room, Trevor grunted a very canine sound at his handiwork. Picking the pants back up in his mouth, he went to the front door and started to shift when it opened on its own.
Hunkering down, Trevor waited until it was open far enough then bolted.
Chad wiped a hand over his face as he walked in. He’d been called out to do guard duty at the local morgue and wasn’t exactly happy about it. What he needed now was a shower, maybe some breakfast and a good night’s sleep. He was unprepared to be run over by an oversized dog as he walked into his petless apartment.
Chad lay on the ground looking up at the sky for a moment then saw movement beside him. Slowly turning his head to look at the dog, his eyes widened when he saw his hundred dollar pair of jeans hanging from the dog’s mouth. He’d swear under oath that the dog was smiling at him.
“Hey, give me back my pants!” he exclaimed and scrambled to his feet.
Trevor wanted to laugh so badly at the expression on Chad’s face. When said man got up, Trevor took off running. Oh, he knew exactly which pair of pants he’d taken and payback was hell.
Chad started running after the dog when it took off. He didn’t mind dogs, loved them actually, but when that dog ran off with his best pair of jeans, it was a very good reason to declare war. He chased the retriever for nearly two blocks in the dark before he finally had to give up. Chad stood in the middle of the empty street with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
“I can’t believe I was just robbed by a freaking mutt!” he exclaimed and headed back home. When he got inside, Envy was still in the shower, so he decided to forego the pleasure of a rant and just go to bed.
“Hey Sis, I’m home. Oh, and I let the dog out.” he called out sarcastically, as he passed near the bathroom.
“Is everything all right?” Envy asked from the shower.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna head for bed. I’ll talk to you later.” He yawned.
“Okay, get some sleep. We can catch up later.” She hurried, wanting to sleep while she still had a chance.
Chad sighed and headed to his room. When he pushed open the door, he could only stare in shock. His room was an absolute mess. There were feathers and remnants of his pillows everywhere.
Seeing a moving shadow, he looked up at the ceiling fan. He just stared blankly when he saw one of the pillow covers hanging from it.
“I’m so gonna get that mutt,” he whispered, before going into the linen closet to get another pillow. Not bothering with the pillowcase or cleaning up the feathers, he fell face first on the mattress and was asleep within seconds.
*****
Devon jerked to a sitting position, as soon as he was awake enough to realize, he was alone in his bed. He didn’t have to look around the room. He couldn’t hear her breathing or feel her presence. Her scent was still strong which told him she hadn’t been gone for very long.
With a growl, he scrambled out of the bed and flung his bedroom door wide open. Gripping the rim of the door, he thought about it for about three seconds then took off down the hall with every intention of retrieving his runaway mate.
“She’s long gone,” Kat informed him, with a yawn from her doorway, as he streaked past.
Skidding to a halt Devon jerked around and glared at his sister, “She wasn’t supposed to leave!”
Kat leveled him with a stare then sighed deciding all males were brainless. “Well, I’m glad you weren’t stupid enough to tell her that.”
“Why?” Devon wanted to know.
“Because if you had, then she would’ve left for more than just the reason of going home and she probably wouldn’t bother with coming back.” Kat let her gaze trail across his nudity, like she was bored, “And if she thought for a second that you would chase her down and drag her back, while not wearing a stitch of clothing, then she’d probably call the cops… oh wait, she would just have her brother arrest your dumb ass.”
Devon growled, not only because his sister was a pain in the ass, but also because she was right.
“Do you want to keep her?” Kat asked curiously.
When Devon just gave her an annoyed look she nodded, “Then leave her alone for the day. You probably shocked her enough last night. She’ll be back tonight because she has a job to do… and maybe because she wants to see you again. But if you go all cave man on her, then she’ll disappear completely. And you know what else I think?”
“Shut up,” Devon spun around and went back into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
“I think she’ll be good for you,” Kat finished then sighed. “Men never want to hear the good stuff.”
A loud banging on the club entrance had every bedroom door flying open simultaneously.
“What the hell is it now?” Nick demanded, while running his fingers through bangs that had found their way over his eyes in his rush.
Devon was pulling on a pair of pants, making Kat arch an eyebrow wondering just what he’d been about to do.
“Let’s go find out what all the commotion is,” Warren said with a sigh, and stretched his arms over his head lazily, before walking down the hall barefooted.
“Doesn’t anything faze him?” Devon asked.
Kat shrugged, “You keep forgetting who you’re asking about.”
“Ah yes,” Nick stated. “We’re talking about the oldest member of our family that likes playing sick jokes about having a vampire lover.”
Warren smirked with his back still to his siblings. “Who said it was a sick joke?”
*****
The sun was threatening to rise but Kane felt no need to move from his vantage point. The only reason he would have to disappear with the sunlight would be the fact he hadn’t slept in days.
He looked down on the police officers as they tried to find evidence about who the killer was. He chuckled and lit another cigarette. He so loved messing with humans, especially the authorities. Stupidity was definitely one of their strong suits.
He snorted in amusement when Warren and the rest of his jaguar siblings came out of the club, to demand what was going on, when the entry bell wouldn’t quit ringing. The police started asking questions and Devon became a bit angry when the officer asked if they could all come down to the station for questioning.
Devon said he’d been inside along with Kat and Warren, while Nick muttered that he hadn’t even been there part of the night. When asked about Nick’s whereabouts, Nick said he was driving a drunken customer home then took a cab back.
“Oh Nicky,” Kane whispered. “You sound so guilty.”
He flipped his ashes over the side of the building and smirked as they fell down, landing right on top of Devon’s head. The jaguar brushed his fingers through his hair and frowned at his hand. When he looked up, nothing was there.
“I am sorry, but all of you need to come down to the station to give a statement,” the officer continued.
Devon scowled at the officer then went back into the club. First, he’d hardly gotten any sleep, then the woman he’d chosen as his mate had snuck off while he was asleep, and now this. Once inside the security of his brother’s office, he turned to Warren.
“Get in touch with Michael. I know we don’t usually ask for help but I don’t want any mistakes. This is the third time someone has been found dead within walking distance of the club this week and we need his skills to help us find out who the hell is doing this and put a stop to it.”
Warren crossed his arms over his chest, “Michael said he’d be back tonight after sunset. And he’s already on it… has been for a while.”
“What about the new girl?” Kat asked, secretly wondering if it was a good time to let someone new into their home and club. It wasn’t that she was suspicious of Envy. It was that it might be too dangerous for her to be here within the line of fire.
“She doesn’t know anything except what her ex-boyfriend told her,” Nick answered. “He actually told her the truth and she thinks he’s full of it.”
“That’s good,” Devon stated. “At least we can keep her out of danger.” His voice softened for a moment, “She’s a part of this family now whether she is aware of it or not. We need to protect her.”
“Do you think her cop brother will be a problem?” Warren asked.
Kat shook her head, “I’ll take care of that if he becomes one.”
Devon sighed, “Good, all bases covered for the time being. Now let’s head downtown and see if we can’t get the law off our backs long enough to find out who is doing this to us.”
*****
Kane quickly made his way down the strip to another prestigious nightclub. The name of this one was Night Light and shifters also ran it. Though the two clubs were different, the families that ran them were very similar and both were of the feline races. This one belonged to a family of cougars, Nathaniel’s family.
Kane jumped from the taller building beside it, landing on the rooftop. He hung upside down over the edge and peeked in the window, his trench coat falling down to frame his head. Seeing his reflection in the glass, he knew he looked a bit comical and actually hoped someone would walk into the empty room he was looking into, so he could scare the shit out of them.
It wasn’t every day he had the chance to scream ‘ooga-booga’ at an unsuspecting victim, nor was it in his usual repertoire. But every once in a while a figment of his childhood would surface and he’d do something out of the ordinary and very immature. It was usually Michael that had come up with the best pranks… god he missed him.
Pulling the window up, Kane righted himself and slipped inside. Taking the small zip lock bag out of the pocket of his trench coat, he smiled mischievously. Walking around the room opening drawers and moving pictures to the side, he finally found the safe.
Testing the handle, he gave a quick jerk, cringing at the sound of ripping metal. Letting the door hang on the one hinge that had survived, he quickly rifled through its contents, taking petty cash and scattering papers across the floor. He guessed it would be too much to ask for the spell book to be hidden within that safe.
Reaching back in, his fingers brushed against something hidden under the remaining papers and cash. He paused almost scared to get his hopes up. Grabbing hold of it, to his disappointment, he withdrew a leather bound book and opened it out of morbid curiosity. Nathaniel Wilder’s journal, now that was unexpected.
Putting the book under his arm, he opened the baggie and withdrew the strands of Kat’s long hair, he’d untangled from the brush in her bathroom, on his sightseeing tour of Moon Dance. He gently sprinkled them around, leaving a couple to hang over the windowsill.
“My dear Kat,” he whispered. “I must apologize, but I can’t let your brothers have all the fun.”
He then removed several news clippings of the local murders that he’d so carefully smeared with the blood of the victims and tossed them into the air like confetti. His dark eyes darted toward the door when he heard footsteps in the hall just beyond it.
In the blink of an eye, he was out the window and sitting on the roof of the adjacent building. Moments later, a man with shoulder length, wavy brown hair approached the window and looked outside then down at the windowsill.
Kane nearly laughed when the man snarled at the long hair. This was going to be a riot.
“Quinn my boy, I do believe you’re being framed.” Kane whispered, and almost laughed outright. Oh, he hadn’t had this much fun since he and Michael had rearranged the furniture in the White House.
*****
Trevor approached his apartment complex and stopped about half a block away. One day he would get a house on several acres of land and not have the problem of someone seeing him shift at his front door when he decided to come home all furry.
Getting off the main avenue, he took to the back yards and wandered into Mrs. Tully’s yard. There was a little playhouse that was probably just big enough for him to fit in while in his normal state. He’d been over to check on the elder lady many times and had done a lot of odd jobs for her so she wouldn’t have to pay a handy man.
He never stopped to wonder why he felt the need to take care of Mrs. Tully, but it was probably because she reminded him so much of his own beloved grandmother, who he missed dearly. A couple of times, while he’d been visiting, her grandchildren had been over playing inside the playhouse and if two children could fit, then so could he.
Running inside of it, he shifted back to normal and quickly pulled the stolen pants on. Finally he was decent and crawled out to stand up. Running over to the fence, he started to pull himself up over it when a voice stopped him.
“Trevor dear, is that you?” the voice was sweetly aged.
Trevor looked over his shoulder and grinned sheepishly, “Hello, Mrs. Tully.” He folded his arms over his chest having the urge to at least cover his nipples in her presence.
“What on earth happened to you?” the old woman asked.
“It’s a long story Mrs. Tully.” Trevor admitted, trying not to fidget. “In the end, I wound up getting mugged of everything, even the shirt on my back… and my car is missing.” Well, it was close enough to the truth.
Mrs. Tully clucked her tongue and shook her head. “People these days,” she complained. “Hold on a moment, I still have one of your apartment keys.” She turned around and started back inside, then stopped. “Why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee? I think I still have one of Mr. Tully’s shirts that will fit you well enough to get you home without cat calls.”
Trevor sighed, he didn’t want to walk into her house half naked and barefoot… it just seemed wrong. Plus, speaking of cats… she had cats. Not just a couple… lots of them. For some reason, he never could get along with the creatures, as much as he liked them.
“Just the key this time Mrs. Tully, I really need to get home,” Trevor finally said.
Mrs. Tully smiled understandingly and went inside. She came out a few moments later with the key and a t-shirt and handed it to him. “Here you are young man,” she said, in her retired teacher tone. “And don’t let any of those dogs out there push you around anymore. If you need it, I can let you have Mr. Tully’s revolver, rest his soul.”
Trevor returned her smile. “I promise I’ll be more careful,” he assured her.
He slid the t-shirt on, then hopped over the fence with the key in his hand and headed for home. It wasn’t until he was at his front door that he paused and thought back on what Mrs. Tully had said. Why had she mentioned dogs? A chill went through him. Did Mrs. Tully know? Had she seen anything?
Shaking his head, Trevor entered the familiar darkness of his apartment and promptly forgot the conversation, writing it off as a figment of his imagination. Heading into the bathroom, he stripped down and stepped into the shower.
He loved taking a shower because it always reminded him of standing out in the rain. It was an odd idea, but because of it, his showers were never quick. This was where he solved most of his problems with mental rants that often outlasted the hot water. It was no surprise when the first thoughts that came to him were about Envy.
He soaped his body up but in his mind he was washing Devon’s scent off her. It seemed he wasn’t the only non-human who was drawn to her. It was a statistical fact that within the paranormal world there were hardly any females. That left the males to usually hunt for human mates. He supposed it was nature’s way of keeping the paranormal creatures from overpopulating.
He wasn’t surprised he had so many rivals trying to take Envy away from him. There was something about her that set her apart from normal human females. It was women like her that called to the wild nature of shifters and other supernatural beings. They were hard to find and sometimes even harder to hold on to.
It didn’t help that her over-protective brother Chad had been coming down on him since day one, when it came to Envy. He looked through the clear shower curtain at the jeans lying on the floor. Oh yes, he had something really good in mind for that piece of denim.
